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Family gets creative with rebuilding after tornado

K-State preps for fall semester classes

Story by Annette Lawless

5:41 p.m. Friday, July 18, 2008

Manhattan — Construction crews clean month-old debris off buildings, while homeowners work on packing up their homes.

And even a month later, homeowners are stressed about moving forward.

“Then I went through this chaotic process of trying to replace stuff,” says Resa Price, a tornado victim from the Miller Ranch area of Manhattan. “We didn’t have bedding. We didn’t have beds. Now I just feel a little overwhelmed. It’s kind of like: Where do we start?”

Price plans to start rebuilding her home next month, but her family plans to go green. Her husband, a science teacher in Manhattan, wanted to teach his two daughters more about conserving goods.

“It makes sense in the long run. It tends to be stronger and better,” Price says.

Even a month later, homes like this one at Miller Ranch still appear quite devastated after an EF4 tornado swept through this area. But places like K-State, which was assessed to have more than $20 million in damages, have actually made a lot of progress.

With one month left until the fall semester, this is what Ed Heptig, director of K-state facilities, is most worried about.

“Timelines – that’s probably my biggest concern is whether those things show up on time and getting them setup in places prior to classes,” Heptig said.

Despite his concern, all buildings are ready for classes. But some construction will continue through the fall semester.

In addition to her house going green, Price says she’s accidentally growing plants outside her home now. Apparently bird seeds flew into her yard during the tornado. Now, she’s growing corn.

Watch 49 Meteorologist Matt Miller's coverage of the tornado as it hit the K-State campus here.